


Something Happens When Everybody Finds Out

by mmaree



Category: One Direction (Band), Zayn Malik (Musician)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Drunk Texting, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Insecure Louis, Language, Louis-centric, M/M, Post-Zayn One Direction, Secret Relationship, except zerrie never happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-07 05:45:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5445428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mmaree/pseuds/mmaree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis and Zayn have been seeing each other on the low-low for the past several months.  But when Louis sends a revealing text to the wrong person, he knows he has screwed up royally.  </p><p>Or the one where a misdirected text changes everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something Happens When Everybody Finds Out

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fancyachatup](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fancyachatup/gifts).



> Written for the prompt: "Louis and Zayn tell the world they are together."
> 
> Also inspired by [this post](http://zqua1d.tumblr.com/post/133498575271/tommosloueh-louis-explains-that-suspended/) on tumblr.

 

Zayn was going to kill him.

It wouldn’t be an easy, humane execution either--Louis was certain of that. No, when Zayn discovered Louis just let the cat out of the bag with one stupid text, the Bradford boy was likely to whack Louis in the kneecaps, hang him by the toenails, and try out any number of useful tricks he’d picked up on the streets of his hometown.

In short, it wasn’t going to be pretty.

The thing was that Louis didn’t mean to do it. Zayn _had_ to understand that. Louis was smashed after a night out with his mates and had simply intended to text (okay, _sext_ ) his boyfriend. He didn’t mean to send the message to that reporter at The Sun. Shit, he didn’t even know why he still had the guy’s number programmed in his phone because the interview he’d done with that knob was over six months ago. Louis considered calling said knob, reasoning with him, and asking him not to publish the message. He thought about ringing up his legal team and getting a gag order on the whole thing. Deep down, though, he knew there was piss all he could do about the situation. That “reporter” was the least sympathetic individual he could think of, and the damage was already done.

And Zayn was going to bloody kill him.

Louis’ phone began to vibrate on the kitchen table, hammering against the wood like a Kelly machine gun. Hands trembling, Louis snatched at it and found he had seventeen unread messages. He was still well-oiled, so he didn’t trust himself to answer any of these messages just yet. The last bloody thing he needed was to dig himself a deeper hole. Scrolling through, he saw that everyone from his mum to Niall had texted him. There was nothing from Zayn yet, but Louis knew it was only a matter of time.

While he sobered up and waited for the inevitable call, Louis tried to tell himself that maybe the fallout wouldn’t be so bad. Admittedly, the text he composed was rather explicit, but it wasn’t like he had sent a dick pic for crying out loud. He’d be slapped on the back of the wrists for the naughty text, but it wouldn’t be the first time he received a proper telling-off. Shit, management was always on his back for one thing or another.

His mobile began vibrating again. This time it was Liam calling, and he didn’t hesitate to answer. Louis didn’t have to worry about walking on eggshells with Liam because his best mate knew all about the secret relationship. In fact, Liam was the only other person who knew. Besides, prospects looked much brighter with Liam in the picture. Yes, level-headed, sensible Liam would help him sort this out.

“Hullo, Tommo here.”

“More like: ‘complete-bloody-idiot-what-the-hell-was-I-thinking’ here,” Liam grunted, sounding only slightly buzzed from their night out. “Jesus, bro--what _were_ you thinking?”

Louis cleared his throat. This conversation wasn’t starting off quite as he expected. “Now Payno, I’ve thought it through, and I don’t think it’s as bad as all that.”

“I doubt Zayn’s gonna share your opinion,” Liam snorted. “Not to mention that Harry and Niall are going to have my ass for not telling them about you two. Damn it, Louis. You really made a right mess of everything this time.”

“It was an accident, Payno.”

“That’s not the point, you berk!” Liam barked back. “You promised Zayn you wouldn’t say anything about your relationship until after the smoke cleared, until after all the bullshit media attention subsided. Zayn hasn’t even told his mum about you two yet, and I’m pretty sure you’ve kept it under wraps as well. If you would’ve just waited until we were a few months into the hiatus, it wouldn’t have been so bad. As it stands, the timing literally couldn’t be any worse.”

“No one will find out about us, dear old Payno,” Louis reassured the younger boy. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist. You want to take a deep breath, mate. It’s gonna be alright.”

“That’s rubbish. You can’t just drop a bombshell on the entire world like this and expect zero fallout.”

“Like I said, it was a gaffe on my part, Payno. But how’s anyone to know that text was supposed to be delivered to Zayn, eh?” Louis reasoned, clucking his tongue. “Could’ve been about anyone. Could’ve been about some random bird, for that matter. Maybe I’m sexting Taylor Swift. The public’s convinced everything Harold writes is about her so why not.”

“She doesn’t have a dick, Louis.”

“Well no one’s perfect, Payne-o,” Louis quipped. “Hey, see what I did there? _Perfect?_ Get it?”

“Louis, I swear to God, if you don’t—"

“Okay, fair play. The text could’ve been about some random _bloke_ , then. Honestly, no one’s gonna be gobsmacked that I’m gay, Payno, and a naughty text won’t ruin the band. It is what it is. There’s absolutely no reason to panic. None at all.”   

Liam fell quiet, and Louis began congratulating himself on his victory. The victory, however, was short-lived.

“Louis, do you even fucking remember a word of what you wrote? Or maybe you’re too rat-arsed to remember a bloody thing?”

“Sticks and stones, Payno. Stick and stones.”

Liam snorted. “In other words, you don’t recall shit, but you don’t want to own up to it.”

“In other words…that is amazingly accurate.” Liam snorted again, and Louis felt the need to elaborate. “Alright, I’ll admit I don’t remember what I sent, and I couldn’t be arsed to check it afterwards. No one’s gonna know it was about Zayn, though. Calm down, bro.”

“Shall I read it to you, Louis? It’s quite descriptive, actually. The way you go into detail about Zayn’s hip tattoo and how much you’ve been wanting his massive--”

“Fuck,” Louis interjected. “You can stop there…I…I get the idea.” He cringed as bits of what he’d written came back to him. The repercussions of this could be enormous— _would_ be enormous. After all, the text was already out there if Liam had read it. He suddenly felt defeated. “Shit, Payno—I’ve made a right bodge-job of this, haven’t I?”

“Can’t argue with you there, mate.”

“So what I do now?” Louis moaned, rising to search for an aspirin in the cabinets. “I can’t take the text back. “It’s already out there, innit it? I suppose I could try to deny it….”

“I don’t know, bro. I’d talk to Zayn first. You two need to be on the same page, whatever you decide.”

“Yeah, I will.” Louis gulped. He spoke with Zayn every chance he got. Every moment he could steal away from his day job was reserved for the boy who made his heart race like a marathon runner on his final lap. Yet, ironically, the last thing Louis wanted to do right now was talk to Zayn. His boyfriend was going to be furious. _Anyone_ would be furious. Moreover, this wasn’t the first time Louis had pulled a cock up of this sort (although this was certainly the worst).   

“And call Harry and Niall while you’re at it,” Liam continued. “Nah, on second thought, I’ll handle them. You’ve got your hands full with Zayn. I think they suspect something’s been going on anyway.” Liam gave a drawn-out sigh. “Good luck, mate.”

Even after Louis had ended the call, Liam’s words stuck in his head like treacle to your nan’s best china: _“Good luck, mate.”_ Louis shook off the sense of foreboding and texted a simple greeting to his boyfriend (and he made jolly well certain he texted the right person this time).

Louis set his mobile on the glass table top in front of him and waited. He waited until he was sure he’d go mad if he didn’t get some type of answer, some type of clue as to how Zayn was reacting to all this. Hell, Louis wasn’t even sure that Zayn knew what had gone down. Zayn might be blissfully unaware of the fact that racy details of his personal life had just become very public. Eventually, Louis gave up and retired to his bedroom.

He was sat on the edge of his bed still wearily eyeing his phone when Louis decided to bite the bullet. He had to call Zayn. Sucking in his breath and closing his eyes, he prepared himself for the Bradford accent that always made him smile or even Zayn’s generic answerphone message. He heard neither. Instead, a robotic voice informed him:

_“The number you have called is not recognised….”_

Cursing, Louis buried his face in his pillow. The truth hit him hard, like a football in the face when you don’t have your eye on the ball:

Zayn had changed his number, and it was not a good sign. It was not a good sign at all.

 

*****

 

Louis must have dozed off at some point in the wee small hours. When he awoke, he felt far from recharged…not unlike his iPhone on the nightstand next to him. To be honest, he was almost afraid to plug the device in, to power the blasted thing on. If Zayn hadn’t replied to his text yet, he didn’t want to know. And if Zayn _had_ replied, well…he probably didn’t want to know that either.

Almost immediately his ringer went off. Glancing down, he saw the 1274 area code and deduced it was a Bradford number. He decided to take a chance. “Hullo?”

“The fuck you not answering your phone?” Zayn greeted him with uncharacteristic surliness. “I’ve been ringing you all bloody morning, Louis.”

“Didn’t know it was you. You changed your number.” The words flew out of his mouth like an accusation.

“’Course I changed my number," Zayn huffed.  "Me phone was blowing up--as you can bloody well imagine.  It's been mad.  My publicist was furious I didn’t say anything to her about us and…well, we can talk about that shit later. But seriously…what have you been doing? I texted you my new number hours ago!”

“Sorry, I’ve been sleeping and—”

“Figures,” Zayn grunted. “Fucking Nero fiddling while Rome burns.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind. Have you seen the papers, Louis?”

Louis didn’t need to see the papers. He could well imagine the headlines. He took a deep breath and tried to stop his voice from quivering. “I’m sorry, Zayn. You know I’d never—”

“Like I said, I don’t want to get into it now,” Zayn cut him off. He sounded angry, but he also seemed…disappointed. “Listen, we need to talk—face-to-face, like. But I need to think through some things first. I need to get it all sorted beforehand.”

“But aren’t you in Bradford?”

“I’m headed south on the M11 now. Should be in London in a couple of hours or so.”

The fact that Zayn had cut short his stay with his family to deal with the situation Louis had created made him feel even more awful. “Zayn, listen…you gotta know that I didn’t mean—”

“I _really_ don’t want to do this over the phone.” Zayn’s words silenced him. Louis felt as if he were free-falling, and for an excruciatingly long time, neither of them said anything. “Sorry, haven’t slept,” Zayn said at last. “Was hoping to get a few hours in the taxi, but that hasn’t panned out. Just say you’ll meet me, yeah?”

“Sure. Where—mine or yours?”

“Neither. The paps are camped out in our gardens, no doubt. Hey, what about that one café around Notting Hill? The one we used to stop by after laying down a track…you know the one I mean.”

Of course Louis did. He knew it quite well. It was a homey sort of place—a slice of Yorkshire, if you will. It was somewhere in the heart of London where one could get a good cuppa, a proper scone, and chat for hours. “Yeah, sounds good.”

“See you at four then.”

Louis was about to say goodbye, but Zayn was already gone.

 

*****

 

A short time later, Louis realised he couldn’t put off getting ready any longer. He felt as if he were in a dense fog as he trudged through the motions, but his mind was somewhere else.

What if Zayn really was leaving him? What if Louis had pissed away the best thing that ever happened to him? _“I really don’t want to do this over the phone,”_ his boyfriend had told him.

Zayn was going to break up with him. It was the only explanation that made sense.

Somehow, Louis had to figure out how to change his mind. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much one could do after Zayn Malik made up his mind about something. The thing that really bothered Louis, however, was that if Zayn _did_ break up with him, it would be like they were never together in the first place. It would a piece of pie for Zayn to carry on as if nothing had happened. They had covered their tracks so well. Zayn could claim that the text and all the rumours were tabloid fabrications, that Louis and him were barely on speaking terms let alone romantically involved.

Louis thought he could deal with almost anything after being in the biggest band in the world, but he couldn’t deal with that. He couldn’t cope with how easy it would be for Zayn to erase Louis from his life.

And all because of one bloody text.

 

*****

 

Louis arrived at the café early. To be precise, he arrived on time, but Zayn wasn’t there yet, so it basically amounted to the same thing. Louis didn’t mind, though. He had assumed Zayn would be running late, and he welcomed the opportunity to reflect on how they got to this point.

It wasn’t until Zayn left the band that they knew. There was always love between them, of course, but of a more brotherly kind. Perhaps, that was because neither one allowed the idea that they could be more than just mates enter into their heads. That being said, it wasn’t like they suddenly became lovers overnight after Zayn left—quite the opposite, in fact. At first, Zayn and his former bandmates were advised to make a clean break. Even though they all cared about each other, all loved each other, it was better if they kept their distance…for now. It was what management wanted, what their careers needed. They all understood that and were willing to play by the rules.

Except Louis didn’t know it would be quite so hard. For a while, Louis thought he could manage it, thought he could live in a world without Zayn Malik. After all, hadn’t he done just that for eighteen years? What was another year or so? Besides, this separation was only going to be temporary. So, he waited patiently for the day when he could reunite with his good mate, his partner in crime.

But then barely two months in, he realised he couldn’t wait any longer. In fact, Louis couldn’t wait one more Goddamn day.

As soon as he was back in London, he found himself at Zayn’s front door. He didn’t have a plan or goal in mind: he just wanted to see Zayn. The moment he did, he made a complete and utter fool of himself. He literally threw his arms around his former bandmate who stood frozen in shock. But then something changed. The ice melted. Zayn returned the embrace. The whole time, Louis kept blubbering on like an idiot, telling Zayn how much he missed him and how sorry he was for those ridiculous tweets. He burrowed his head into his friend’s soft flannel as Zayn chuckled.

“Tweets?” Zayn sniffed. “To hell with Twitter, mate. Fuck all that shit. I know who me true mates are. Always have.” He winked down at Louis and gave him a playful jab with his elbow.

Somehow, play fighting led to Louis pinning down the other boy. Zayn laughed beneath him, tongue peeking out between his teeth and a twinkle in those brilliant amber eyes of his. Zayn was merely a heartbeat away, and Louis was struck by how well they fit together. They must’ve stayed like that for an eternity, poised on the precipice of the unknown.

Then Louis took the first plunge, letting his lips brush ever-so-slightly against Zayn’s as if testing the waters. Zayn stilled beneath him, then half-heartedly tried to shove him off. They were brothers, and this seemed wrong.

Until it didn’t.

Things escalated quickly after that. Snogging led to breathless confessions. Soon, they were beyond the point of no return, doubts and inhibitions long-forgotten.

That night was the first time they made love, but it wasn’t the last. _God_ , it wasn’t the last.

It was so good, so fragile, what they had. They met in secret like theirs was a forbidden love—which, really, it was. They inherently knew that the world would want to tear them apart. They knew people would queue up to list reasons why they were wrong for each other, why their relationship was unrealistic and even selfish.

This was why they kept it a secret from their families, their friends, and even from the other lads—except Liam, that is. Liam had discovered their secret quite by accident, but in a way, Louis was glad Liam had found out the truth. It was nice to have someone to confide in.

But no one else could know.

As cliché as it sounded, Louis knew the world wouldn’t understand, would likely ruin what they had. They wouldn’t understand how Louis felt. No, they would be too busy ticking off the reasons why Zayn and Louis were wrong for each other.

Louis was pulled into the present when Zayn, dark circles under his eyes, approached the corner table by the window. Zayn looked tired and fidgety, looked as if he had spent the whole night reciting every one of those objections the world could fling at them.

And in that moment, Louis knew it was over, that he had fucked up for the last time.

 

*****

 

“If you’re looking to keep things on the down-low, Lou,” Zayn drawled, crossing his arms over his chest, “I might suggest a strategy other than drunk texting The Sun.”

Louis cast his eyes down guiltily. For the first time since they’d met, there existed a barrier between them. Zayn seemed so distant, so guarded. And the curious looks they’d been getting from a few of the tables weren’t helping either. Louis felt as if they were in a fishbowl, and he now wished they were somewhere less public.

“Come on, Zayn. I obviously meant to send that text to you.”

“So you did write it then?” Zayn asked.

Louis nodded reluctantly. “’Course I did. I was pissed, though.”

“Doesn’t change the situation. You know what my manager said about distancing myself from my old band….” Zayn leaned forward, peering at him from across the table. “You know what would happen if people found out. It’d be a right circus. No one wants us together, Lou.”

“How can you say that?” Louis hated to admit it but Zayn’s words hurt. They felt like a betrayal of some kind. Louis wanted them to be together, and he thought Zayn did as well.

And that should be all that mattered.

Zayn sighed. “Because it’s the truth, babe. Anyway, you know what I mean. We were so careful, like. Why’d you have to do something daft like that?”

“I’m sorry,” he choked out. And he was…even if Zayn was uninterested in his useless apologies.

“I know you are, babe.” Zayn rubbed the back of his neck, and Louis wanted to reach out and massage it for him. He wanted to work out all the needless stress he had caused his boyfriend. “Lou,” Zayn continued, “it’s just not working like this. The secrecy…the lies…all of it. It was one thing not telling people we were a couple and hiding our relationship, but it’s different now. Everyone’s gonna be asking us direct questions. We can’t continue this, not now.”

Louis slumped down. He felt defeated. It was clear Zayn had already made up his mind. There was no point in arguing with him. “Of course, Zayn. You’re right.”

“This thing we have…,” Zayn began, eyes darting everywhere around the room but at Louis, “it…it doesn’t fit into our plans. It doesn’t fit into our careers.” But what Louis heard was that he didn’t fit into Zayn’s plans, that he didn’t fit into Zayn’s career.

Louis swallowed the lump in his throat. “Yeah, I get it.”

“Good.” Zayn’s whole demeanour seemed to change. He still seemed tense, but it was as if he had made up his mind about something. Whatever doubts he’d been nursing clearly no longer plagued him, and Louis hated this. As bitter and spiteful as it was, he wanted the love of his life to feel as gutted as he felt at this moment. It wasn’t fair that Louis’ whole world was crumbling and Zayn was barely bothered beyond the bad press. It wasn’t fair at all.

“Zayn, come off it. Just say it, mate. I can take it.”

“Alright…there’s no room for a secret relationship in our lives, Lou. We have to end this charade.”

Louis was expecting it, but that didn’t make the news any easier to swallow. “If that’s what you want, Zayn.”

Zayn nodded vigorously. “It wasn’t what I wanted—not at first—but then I thought about it and it seemed blatant as fuck.”

Louis felt half dead. The casual way in which Zayn was breaking up with him was almost too much to bear. Yes, they had only officially been together for five months, but there was so much more to their relationship than that. They shared a lifetime of memories these past five years. Even with so much history, Louis always thought of the future when he thought of Zayn. He thought of the memories they’d create as a couple for years to come, of waking up next to the man he loved.

Zayn coughed loudly. “So I, uh, guess there’s just one more thing to do, then….” As he spoke, he retrieved a small velvet case from the pocket of his leather jacket and snapped it open with a flick of his thumb. Inside lay two platinum bands on a bed of blue satin.

Louis’ eyes kept flitting between Zayn’s cheeky smirk and the jewellery case. “Are you kidding me? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” Then he lost it, burying his head in his hands. “You’re a right arse, Zayn,” he managed between muffled sobs. “I was so scared I was gonna lose you!”

“Aw babe, I’m sorry,” Zayn cooed, chuckling softly. “Couldn’t help it. Forgive me, yeah?”

Louis pulled himself together and was just about to respond when Zayn’s phone rang. Louis side-eyed the intrusion and waited for Zayn to dismiss the call.

Instead, Zayn shot him an apologetic look. “Just a moment, babe. I need to get this,” he explained, sitting taller in his chair. “Hullo? Yes, this is Zayn Malik.” There was a lengthy pause as Zayn listened to the caller and Louis tried to figure out what phone call could be important enough to interrupt a proposal. “Yes, I’d be more than happy to comment on those rumours. I’d like to make a statement, actually.” Zayn winked at him. “Louis Tomlinson and I have been in a relationship for the past several months. As a matter of fact, I have just asked him to marry me.”

“No you didn’t,” Louis said petulantly.

Zayn covered the speaker. “Huh?”

“You forgot to ask me, you wanker. You just bunged the rings out and that was that.”

“Well, will you?” Zayn hissed back at him.

“Will I what?”

Zayn rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “Will you marry me, babe?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Louis replied with a shrug. “I mean, I don’t have any better offers at the moment and—”

“He said ‘yes,’” Zayn relayed, phone pressed back to his ear. “No, man, I swear I’m not taking the piss.” Zayn’s eyes crinkled in delight. “I love Louis Tomlinson, and we’re engaged. It’s all official, like, and yes, you can print that. You can also add that I am the luckiest bastard on the planet. Cheers, mate." Zayn ended the call and slid his phone back into his pocket. “Sorry babe, had to take that call,” he offered up slyly. “Hope you didn’t mind?”

Louis shook his head, trying not to crack a smile. “But that bit about you being the luckiest bastard—it innit true, mate. It’s me. _I’m_ the lucky one.”

“Keep dreaming, Louis,” Zayn smirked, reaching across the table to clasp hands with his fiancé.

Louis felt tears coming to his eyes again. The fact that Zayn wanted him and wanted the world to know it, too…well, it was almost too much to take. It made him feel so filled up that he thought he might burst.

But he was willing to live with that. Louis was more than willing to live with that feeling for the rest of his life.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from Taylor Swift's "I Know Places." Thanks for reading and comments/kudos are always appreciated. :) ~Maree xx


End file.
